


Not the Kind of Place You Can Sail To

by the_Sagest_brush



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Valka comes back, Angst, Everyone on Berk thinks Stoick's dead, F/M, Fluff, Not Really Character Death, Stoick the Vast Lives, Valka kidnaps Stoick, Valka returns, eventually Hiccup/Astrid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-16 00:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_Sagest_brush/pseuds/the_Sagest_brush
Summary: After 15 years, Valka returns to Berk one night. But her return doesn't go to plan, how will Hiccup cope with the loss of his father?  And without knowing dragons, can Stoick reconcile with his wife?AKA I have FEELINGS about Stoick and Valka.AU starts about 15 minutes into the first movie and this is my first published writing so... don't hurt me.





	1. Dragon Attack

**Author's Note:**

> I make no promises about any of this.  
> For Context, Hiccup has just shot down Toothless, and is running for his life from a Monstrous Nightmare.

The other Vikings wouldn’t ever say so in front of him, but in private they occasionally remarked on the fact that Stoick the Vast had an uncanny sense for when his son was about to get eaten. 

In the midst of all the chaos of dragons roaring, Vikings yelling and fire crackling, no one else seemed to hear anything. But when Stoick suddenly glanced up from where he was tying down one of the Nadders and took off back towards Berk, they all had the same thought.   
“Hiccup.” Someone said knowingly, and there was a general nod of agreement.

———————

"Oh Thor." Hiccup hid behind one of the pillars holding flames into the sky.

“Hiccup!” Stoick vaulted the overturned wagon and tackled the Monstrous Nightmare before it took a bite out of the teenager curled on the ground.  
The nightmare Hissed and coughed out a spurt of flame. Stoick swept his cloak before him, the hide shedding flame. The Monstrous Nightmare whimpered as the chief balled his fists.  
“Yer all out.” He growled.  
Hiccup uncurled himself from his place on the ground, watching his father beat the Monstrous Nightmare into submission with a mix of relief and resignation. His dad always seemed to show up at the absolute worst moment. He couldn't have shown up 5 minutes earlier when he shot down a Nightfury. No way, but when he was about to get eaten - Stoick was right there.

A terrible Terror, evidently not looking where it was going, ran into the back of Hiccups legs, and he fell forward, landing hard on his hands and knees. The tiny dragon paused and glanced back over its shoulder.  
“I mean if you’re in the mood to kill me that’d be fine.” Hiccup remarked, with a sigh “Everyone else seems to be having a go, and it’d save me a lecture.” The tiny Dragon considered him for a second, tongue flicking out of its mouth to wrap around its snout.  
Then abruptly it turned and skittered away.  
“Well, If that’s how you feel about it,” Hiccup muttered as the monstrous nightmare broke free of Stoick and took to the sky.  
Stoick turned back from the dragon, cloak still smoking, hands blackened from the ash that shed off the nightmare’s scales.  
“What are you doing out?” Stoick demanded,  
“I was -“ Hiccup started,  
“You were supposed to be inside-“ Stoick continued as though he hadn't heard brushing his hands off as he walked back toward his son.  
“But a Gronkle flew into the shop and I- I-“ Hiccup trailed off as something caught his eye over Stoick's shoulder.  
“You what? Don't stop explaining now.” Stoick gestured in frustration. Hiccup took an involuntary step back -  
“Dad-“ He whispered, 

“What?” Stoick half turned 

“DAD!”

The dragon was huge. Bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare. Four wings spread wide through the smoke as Stoick turned.  
It felt like a dream sequence.  
The awful kind when something terrible is happening, and you can’t move the way you want to.

Hiccup staggered backwards, eyes locked on the dragon. He had never seen his father look small. But he did now. 

Hiccup’s boot caught on something, and he hit the ground hard, eyes squeezed shut as the Dragon swept over him with a roar. 

 

His ears were ringing,

 

Slowly Hiccup opened his eyes, picking himself up off the ground, willing his father to be there-

 

He wasn’t. 

Stoick was gone. 

As Hiccup staggered to his feet, searching the area frantically, he almost tripped over his father’s helmet.  
Flung by the impact, it had skidded across the ground to land almost at his feet. 

Instinctively, Hiccup grabbed it, clutching the awkward thing to his chest as he spun around to search the village.  
Buildings were in flames; there were Vikings everywhere, but no sign of Stoick.

“Dad?”Hiccup called, voice lost in the din of the attack. 

Slowly, then faster, and faster, until he was in a flat out sprint, Hiccup ran through the village, praying he’d find Stoick somewhere. 

Anywhere. Just alive. 

Please, Frey let him be alive. 

 

————

 

The barest hints of sunrise were starting to reflect off the ocean when Hiccup staggered to a stop, just in time to keep from falling over the cliff’s edge on the island’s edge.

The four-winged dragon was rapidly disappearing into the sky over raven point. 

The shouting and Dragon’s roars from the village were fading too. Slowly, Hiccup let his father’s helmet drop from his hands. It hit the ground with a dull thud as his knees buckled under him. 

“I did this.” He whispered, feeling the worthlessness work its way into his throat as he choked back tears.

“Thor this is all my fault.”


	2. Over the Northern Ocean.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an Interim chapter till I get the rest of this thing figured out.

Perhaps the gods showed some mercy after all. Stoick thought as he stared down at the ocean below him. That he would die, killed by the same dragon that had taken half his heart fifteen years ago, it was only fitting that the same creature would return to finish the job. 

Standing on Berk, watching the dragon sweep through the smoke like a demon, Stoick had seen her face again clearer than he’d pictured it in 15 years.  
“Valka.” He whispered. 

Fear was as familiar to Stoick as the pain of burned fingers from wrestling a dragon into submission.  
Death was just an occupational hazard.  
And he’d see her again. 

His only regret hung between him and the ocean, a small, silver Thor’s hammer, a little misshapen, hung on a cord of Dragon Sinew.  
The first thing Hiccup made on Gobber’s forge.  
He’d been so proud.  
Stoick wondered if Hiccup knew his father still wore it.

Somewhere along the way it had all gone wrong.  
The dragon attacks had grown more frequent, and Stoick worried constantly that he would look up after an attack and Hiccup would just be gone. He’d always told Valka that Hiccup would be the strongest of them all. But after losing her, it was harder to believe it. 

Hiccup was so small, gangly, and awkward. Gobber had once said that a dedicated Terrible Terror could carry Hiccup off. And it was hard to tell a teenager that you were afraid of losing him. 

 

Stoick was shaken from his thoughts by the Dragon’s sudden descent. They were approaching an island, ringed in ice shards that shot skyward like the gates of Jotenheim. 

“Odin help me.” Stoick muttered, catching hold of the hammer Hiccup had made for him. 

As the dragon shot into the ice ringed tunnel, Stoick sent a quick prayer to the gods, as he steeled himself for what he knew would be his last fight.

\----------------

“Ah, There ye’are Hiccup. I thought ye’d been carried off.” Hiccup realized with a start that he’d fallen asleep on the cliff's edge. He sat up guiltily, trying to remember why he was there.  
“But no- yer just lazing about and sleeping till noon.” Gobber reached down and grabbed Hiccup by the scruff, lifting him up and placing him on his feet.  
Hiccup flailed sleepily and kicked his father’s helmet. It rolled towards the edge of the cliff, teetered for a moment, then fell.  
It all came back in a rush and Hiccup almost dropped to his knees again.  
“Wha-?” Gobber half asked, turning to look Hiccup full in the face.  
“What happened last night lad? Where’s yer father?”  
“He- There was - a dragon.” Hiccup croaked, voice rusty from crying and sleeping in the morning dew.  
“It had four wings, I should have warned him, I should have - “ Hiccup stopped and took a deep breath. “We have to find him... “

“Four wings?” Gobber muttered, “There hasn’t been a storm cutter here since...” Hiccup wasn’t listening.  
“Let's get a hunting party together. We have to go after it.”  
“Your father tried,” Gobber said tightening his grip on Hiccups shoulder. “No one within three hundred leagues of here knows where that devil nests.”

“But I saw it go North, there has to be someone out there who knows something. We have time for one more voyage before Winter sets in.” Hiccup was rambling now, rushing the words out, trying to convince himself there was something he could do. “The ships are outfitted if we hurry we won’t lose more than a day-“  
“Thor almighty it’s like talking to yer father,” Gobber said exasperatedly; he grabbed Hiccup’s collar and spun him to face himself. “Now ye listen to me. Your father chased that blasted dragon all over the ocean after your mother was taken. If that devil has a home on this earth it’s not one you can sail to.” 

Hiccup’s shoulders sagged under Gobber’s hand.  
“Besides, you’re the son of the chief, someone has to make sure the village doesn’t starve this winter. If you want to honour your father, you protect this village.”

Hiccup made a small, disgusted sound in the back of his throat and pulled away from Gobber.  
“I think we both know that’s not happening Gobber,” Hiccup muttered. “I’m going to go clean up the arm’s wagon.”  
Hiccup stalked away, down the hill. Gobber let him go, knowing full well he wasn’t going to the arms wagon. 

Whatever else Gobber was, he’d seen enough dragon fights to know that sometimes people didn’t come back quite right. Haddock’s were tough, but it had been almost 3 years after Valka before Stoick had started to come out of it - 

Gobber looked back at the ocean

"I hope you found her Stoick." He muttered, before turning back to the village, and the grim duty of calling council. 

——————


	3. Fifteen Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not real sure about this format? but I guess I'm gonna experiment and you can come along for the ride.   
> This definitely felt like it should be it's own chapter.

\-----------------------

Stoick hit the ground in a roll, as the dragon released him. Decades of near escapes had left Stoick with a speed that hardly fit his size, he leaped to his feet, arms up, ready for the creature to pounce- But it didn't. Stoick spun slowly, arms up, trying to get his bearings.

It was dark, but he could smell the stench of dragon, hear the rustle of scales. Something whistled through the air and Stoick whirled towards the sound, bracing himself. But there was no impact, only silence. 

The dragons stilled, and in the sudden silence, Stoick could swear he heard his own heart pounding for just a moment before there was a quiet rustle, like shells rubbing against each other. 

Fire leapt up in the mouth of a dragon just to Stoick’s left, and he flinched as more flame spread around the room. Clenching his jaw Stoick turned to face the monstrosity that had brought him here.  
The dragon eyed him indifferently. “For Valka.” Stoick whispered, he was halfway through a step forward when a quick movement caught his eye. The creature that darted from beside the large dragon at first appeared to be a small dragon. But as it hesitated, drawing up to something near it’s full hight, Stoick realized it was more or less human, in spiked armour that obscured it’s true shape. It reguarded him for a moment, large - dark eye sockets ringed by spikes that had been splattered with brilliant blue paint. It made a small sound, that might have been a word, but Stoick couldn’t hear it. 

“Wh- who are you?” Stoick demanded bracing his feet. Slowly, the creature approached him, setting its staff and shield on the ground as it went. 

“Who are you? Answer me!” Several of the dragons began to growl at the outburst and the creature flinched. Stoick closed his eyes and took a breath, resolving to end what ever this was, once and for all. 

But when he opened his eyes -

 

“I know what you’re going to say.” She said, voice shaking as she set the helmet on her shield.  
“How could I have done this; left you and Hiccup alone all these years-“  
Somehow, Stoick had never thought death would be that easy.  
But then there was no mention of dragons in the halls of the aesir. But she couldn’t be-

“How could I have traded life with you for some godforsaken island with only dragon’s for company?” The firelight flickering off her face made her look almost ethereal, like a painting. Stoick could barely breath, trying to decide if he was alive or dead

Well I couldn’t know if things - If you could change. If I’d come back - You and Hiccup-” They were face to face now, Stoick could see the grey green flecks in her blue eyes. By all the gods her eyes - Even full of tears they were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.  
“I thought you’d be better off without me; telling you dragons could be peaceful and - I -“ She stammered to a stop, hesitating as she met Stoick’s eyes.  
Stoick was memorizing her face again, afraid he was dreaming her

“Well go on. Shout, yell - Say something for Freys sake!” Valka’s voice rose, almost panicky as Stoick stood in front of her. 

Slowly, Stoick reached out a hand, touching her cheek with his fingertips. A shock ran through him when he touched skin, he'd half expected his hand to pass through her, like mist.  
But she didn't evaporate.  
Stoick felt a sudden rush as she quivered against his hand. "Val?" He cupped her face in his hands, feeling the smile creep over his face as he caressed her face, reaching back to touch her hair. gods he could FEEL her. 

“Oh Stoick-“ Valka leaned into him, burying her face in his chest Stoick’s arms found their way around her, gently, reveling in the familiarity of feeling her in his arms again. She shifted, looked up at him, kissed him. 

Stoick the Vast had never had much of a way with words.  
But there was only one word that really mattered in the moment anyway.

“Valka.” 

 

——————


	4. Downed Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile back on Berk....  
> (Forgive me, you're gonna hear that a lot because I associate it with Jokes.)

Despite what he'd told Gobber, Hiccup did not - go back to the arms wagon.  
He made it about half way before he spotted Snotlout and the twins arguing over something. Hiccup, pivoted on his heel, headed up the hill to his house before they saw him.  
Hiccup’s mind was buzzing with everything that had happened the previous night. He’d shot down a nightfury, if he found it - killed it. He could prove to the village that he could do this.

It was too late to prove himself to his father. Hiccup rubbed one hand angrily across his face. But one way or another he was going to kill dragons. One way or another he'd kill that StormCutter. He'd avenge his father. Haddock Stubbornness was legendary, even among vikings, Hiccup was going to live up to that name. Or he was going to die trying. 

Hiccup slammed the door open to the house, and ran to the weapon rack Stoick had always kept stocked at the back of the room. Gobber would probably come looking for him or worse - send someone after him. Hiccup considered the weapons, he knew from his work in Gobber’s shop that an axe or hammer was not going to work. They were too heavy, and he was already clumsy enough without a heavy weapon to drag around. Someone knocked on the door.  
“Oh gods.” Hiccup panicked, grabbing a sheathed shortsword, more of a long knife than anything; and ran for the back door. He jumped the steps and bolted for the woods behind the house. The sun wasn’t particularly high yet, so Hiccup found a spot hidden from the path and crouched to pull his notebook from his pocket. 

If there was one thing that Stoick and Hiccup had ever agreed on it was the usefulness of maps. For as long as he could remember, Hiccup had the map of Berk memorized. He sketched out the area around Raven point and stood, strapping the sword to his belt. It was going to be a long day. 

——————— 

“Well that settles it.” Hiccup growled as he looked up from the rock he’d climbed, to survey the area. “The god’s hate me.” He snapped his notebook shut and stuck it back in his pocket.  
“Most people lose a mug, or an axe.” He jumped from the rock to the ground. “No not me, I managed to loose an entire DRAGON.” He swatted a branch, only to have it spring back and lash him across the face. 

“Oh for the love of-” Hiccup grabbed the branch and wrenched it off the tree, flinging it down the slope, Hiccup continued to mutter viciously under his breath, until he almost tripped over a root. He glanced up, a tree had fallen down, recently. 

“Hello.” Hiccup muttered. Broken branches littered the slope and overturned earth. He half climbed, half slid down the slope, pausing halfway down when he noticed the iridescent black scales scraped and embeded in one of the branches. Hiccup pulled a scale free and studied it for a moment, it had fine ridges, he noticed, almost impossible to see at the right angle, but still there.  
He pocketed the scale and carried on down the slope. He slid to a stop, there was a dip and then a sharp rise, which he fell against. On hands and knees, Hiccup scrambled up the rise, only to jerk back as he spotted the huge black shape coiled in the small clearing.  
“Oh thor, o thor-othorothor.” Hiccup took a deep breath and crept back up, peeking over the rise.  
It was there.  
The black dragon, splayed awkwardly on its side and shining in the afternoon sunshine like a gift from the gods.

Hiccup scrambled over the rise.  
“I did it.” He breathed, staring awed at the dragon. “I finally killed a dragon!” he said placing his boot on the dragon’s shoulder. 

With a low moan the dragon shifted, shrugging Hiccup’s foot aside.  
Hiccup fell back as the dragon huffed a raspy breath, and flexed it’s wing halfheartedly against the ropes. 

“Oh gods.” Hiccup breathed pushing himself up. The dragon shifted it’s head, watching him with a single green eye. Hiccup exhaled slowly.  
“I’m going to kill you dragon. I’m going to cut out your heart and bring it to the village.” He raised the shortsword.  
“I’m a viking, I’m going to avenge my father.” Hiccup made the mistake of glancing at the dragon’s face. It was still watching him, was it, afraid?  
“I’m a viking!” Hiccup screamed at it.  
The nightfury made a small moan, and dropped it’s head, closing it’s eye in the reflexive way that sheep did when you waved your crook too close to their face.  
Hiccup raised the sword again, trying to be angry, trying to be a viking - 

But he couldn’t do it.  
The Nightfury wasn’t a monster, it was just a dragon. And it was scared of him. 

Hiccup sighed heavily, feeling tears prick at his eyes again. He looked at the blade in his hand, then back at the ropes.  
“I’m going to regret this.”

 

——————————

Hiccup’s ears were still ringing from the Nightfury’s roar when he pushed open the door to his house later that evening. The dragon had moved fast, but maybe it was more badly injured than it appeared? Was that why it hadn’t killed him? 

Hiccup fingered the scale he’d pulled from the fallen tree, feeling the fine, sharp ridges that ran across it. 

“Ah, Hiccup.”  
Hiccup started, Gobber was sitting by the fire. ”Dragon Training is starting tomorrow.” The older viking said. Hiccup blinked.  
“I expect to see you in the ring.”  
“But - I-” Hiccup stopped. He certainly needed training. If he couldn’t even kill a wounded Nightfury in the woods, there was no way he was going to kill a Storm-Cutter.  
“Sure.” He said.  
“Good.” Gobber turned, then paused. "We'll be holding Stoick's funeral in seven days."  
"Oh." Hiccup said. what else was he supposed to say? It was tradition after all, but it added an air of finality to hear it said.  
"I'll need some help at the forge before Dragon Training between now and then." Gobber added.  
"Sure." Hiccup said again, he was really starting to wish Gobber would just leave. The last thing he wanted to think about was preparing the treasures for Stoick's funeral ship. “Well. There's some Supper on the table for you." Gobber said as he opened the door, and left the house. 

Hiccup sighed heavily and sat down in front of the fire. It smelled good, probably grease. Hiccup's stomach rumbled.  
Right. Food.  
Hiccup devoured the meal Gobber had brought, then, realizing how tired he was, stumbled up the stairs.  
Dragon training, his father's funeral, the nightfury, Hiccup sighed and collapsed onto the bed. He was asleep before he'd finished the thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because there's lots of movie overlap, I'm gonna do my best to avoid re-hashing move scenes. So- maybe it'll work, maybe it won't.
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT; After some brief google searching I discovered that Vikings generally didn't hold the funeral celebration until 7 days after death.   
> So... I'mma use that because reasons. Additionally, heirs didn't inherit until that 7 day mark, so I get to put off the whole cheifdom thing. which is also good because idk how I'm gonna do that.


	5. Missed You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little Stoick/Valka fluff 
> 
> If it seems a little ooc don't worry - there's a confrontation coming, but I wanted fluff.
> 
> After 15 years they deserve a little fluff before angst and arguing and stuff happens.

———————————— 

After the rush of words, joy, had they danced? Probably. Somehow after all of it, Stoick and Valka had ended up holding each other on the floor.  
The storm-cutter had curled around them, Stoick had been nervous at first, but Valka hadn't moved, and he didn't want to break the spell. 

There were still things they hadn't said, why she was here, why she'd come back, how much he'd missed her. They hadn't even dealt with the dragons yet... But Valka was curled into his side, her head on his shoulder, as she played with a braid his beard.  
The dragon huffed and shifted slightly. Stoick tensed, then relaxed again as the beast settled. Valka chuckled against him.  
"Cloudjumper won't hurt us." She said quietly, her voice almost teasing.  
Stoick beleived her. Just feeling Valka under his arm made the Chief of Berk feel safer than anything else in the past fifteen years had.  
But you can't un-learn a lifetime of wariness just by trusting someone. Although, Stoick was willing to try - at least for tonight.

After a few more moments of silence Valka shifted against him.  
"Stoick I have to tell you- We have to talk-" she was resigned, moving away from him, and Stoick wasn't ready to let go of this yet. He moved his arm to her waist, just enough pressure to ask her to stay without holding her back.

"Is it on fire?" He asked, remembering her saying the same thing to him when he came home from a village meeting determined to work something out.  
Valka turned to look at him a little confusion, then memory dawning in her eyes.  
"Stoick-" 

"Its been fifteen years Val." He hesitated "Please?" She smiled at him, slowly, and leaned back against him.  
They sat in silence for a while longer, the next time Stoick shifted he realized Valka was asleep.  
But then, she’d always been like that, the woman could sleep anywhere, and Stoick had often envyed her when he found her dozing against him in the middle of a boring council meeting. 

Stoick was still too on edge to sleep, he rested his chin on Valka’s head and stared into the dark. He still wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead he'd been half expecting valkiries or Thor to show up. But he hadn’t seen any Aesir, nor the rainbow bridge. And, Stoick thought, kissing Valka’s head absently. This was certainly not Helheim. 

Which of course led to a number of other questions, angry questions, not to mention how was he going to explain this on berk. And Hiccup? Thor only knew how that was going to go over- Stoick huffed and pushed his thoughts aside. He'd been without her for fifteen years. Surely he could have one night, no questions, just Valka. Stoick closed his eyes, it really was Valka, and she still fit against his side, under his arm like she was meant to be there. gods he'd missed her. 

Valka's ribs moved with her breath under his arm. It felt like they were back on Berk, in the early days, when he was still courting her. Stoick smiled slightly at that memory. He'd been terrified that he'd scare her off, or she'd decide he wasn't worth her trouble.

Valka had always startled easily, but she was stronger than she let on. 

Valka shifted against him. “Stoick.” She murmered, still half asleep.  
“Love you Val.” He whispered back. She pressed closer to him.  
“Hmmm,” she smiled, eyes still closed. “I can hear you thinking. I thought you said it wasn't on fire.”  
“I was thinking about courting you.” Stoick said. Valka chuckled.  
"Simpler times." She muttered.  
“Aye.” He replied running his hand over her hair. She huffed, quietly, settling back to sleep. 

Eventually, in the darkness, despite the dragon, and the fact that his wife was somehow back from the dead, Stoick fell asleep too. 

 

————————————————

 

The ice crystals glowed in the morning light and it was cold. Stoick blinked. Where was - He glanced around. 

No Valka. Had it been a dream after all then?

An aching sense of loss, more intense than it had been in a long time, crept over Stoick.  
He hadn’t had such vivid dreams of her in almost ten years. 

But that didn’t answer the question of where he was. Stoick shifted, and froze. A low rumble answered his movement, and there were scales under his hand. Slowly, Stoick turned his head.  
He was laying against a dragon, not the storm-cutter, but something big. Stoick didn’t know this type, it had armour plates, green and red. The dragon shifted, and a yellow eye came into view. Stoick pushed off the dragon swiftly putting his arms up and glancing around for some kind of weapon. The dragon regarded him calmly, cocking it’s head slowly. “What in Thor’s name-”  
The dragon stood slowly, Stoick widened his stance, but the dragon just yawned and stretched, switching its tail calmly before wandering off into a nearby cavern.

Slowly, Stoick lowered his arms. Slowly, his dream, or last night? Or whatever it had been, was coming back to him.  
Valka had talked about training dragons? If she was here.  
Stoick massaged his temples slowly. What time was it? It had been so long since he’d even considered sleeping late- 

With a deep breath Stoick squared his shoulders, he’d have to get out of these caverns if he wanted any answers at all. He glanced around, there were a few openings in the walls, the largest being the up-sloping path that the dragon had taken. Stoick considered, then decided he’d never taken the subtle way before, and he wasn’t about to start trying now.


	6. The Cove

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So - Just to retconn a little; some brief google searching revealed that Vikings generally didn't hold the funeral celebration until 7 days after death.  
> So... I'mma use that because reasons. Additionally, heirs didn't inherit until that 7 day mark, so I get to put off the whole cheifdom thing. which is also good because it gives me time to plan this shit out.

The morning was going fine until Hiccup realized he actually had to get out of bed.  
Wearily he tossed the blanket to the end of his bed and stumbled down the stairs. There was still some food in the house, and Hiccup picked through it.  
He wasn’t really hungry. 

Dragon Training started today… Hiccup suddenly felt vaguely sick to his stomach. He’d avoided everyone yesterday. But now they knew, that he, that his dad was-  
Hiccup gritted his teeth and dropped a half-considered piece of dried meat back into the box.  
He picked up the sword and notebook he’d left on the table on his way by.  
At least in the forest, he didn’t have to think about it. 

The woods were cool in the morning. Hiccup imagined he should feel guilty for leaving Gobber in the lurch, but he didn’t.

An hour or two’s wandering led him back to the long slope where the night fury had crashed. Hiccup hadn’t really intended to return - but he was here. 

Slowly Hiccup paced the clearing, then inspected the weighted ropes, weighing the stones in his hand as he crouched down. After a few minutes he shrugged and rose, intending to wander off again - but something caught his eye.  
“Ok, that’s new.” Hiccup jumped over a log and soon discovered a crevasse that led into a small cove. “Huh.” Fifteen years and Hiccup had no idea this was even here… Did anyone?  
Hiccup crouched down again and opened his notebook; He had just put pencil to paper when he noticed the scales scattered on the stone by his foot.  
“Hello again-” Hiccup muttered, picking one of the scales off the ground.  
He was angling it, so the light shone off its fine ridges when a large black shape shot upwards past him. Hiccup threw himself backwards and looked up as the nightfury scrambled for a foothold against the wall.  
After a moment or two, it gave up - pushing off the stone to glide across the lake, landing clumsily on the far side.  
Hiccup lay against the stone - waiting for his heart rate to return to something near normal. The Night-fury screeched as it twisted in midair, crashing to the earth again. Slowly, Hiccup crept forward, watching the dragon move. Something was wrong; it couldn’t seem to get airborne. Hiccup started sketching instinctively. The dragon’s fins were spread and flexed as it moved, flicking its tail agitatedly. It slapped its tail on the ground, and Hiccup realized it was asymmetrical.  
“You’re missing part of your tail.” Hiccup muttered, “You really need one little tail fin that bad?” The dragon leapt into the air again, when he was paying attention, Hiccup realized he could see the tail flick strangely in the air, throwing the night-fury off balance so that it crashed into the earth again. 

Clearly hurt by its last fall, the dragon rolled onto its stomach and shook its head. Abruptly, the dragon’s ears? Fins? Perked up as it spotted what Hiccup assumed was fish in the lake. But snapping into the water didn’t bring any fish to the surface, and the dragon shook its head, spraying water. 

The sound of a pencil rolling interrupted Hiccup’s fascinated stare. He flinched to catch the pencil but instead flung it over the edge of the ledge he was sitting on.  
“Uh-” Hiccup glanced up at the dragon and froze. It was staring at him; head turned curiously. 

A hawk called overhead, and the Night-fury glanced away. Hiccup took advantage of the dragon’s distraction and darted back into the crevasse. Hiccup’s mind was already racing. The dragon was hungry if he brought fish - maybe he could get close, study it.  
Dad won’t like that. The thought came unbidden, and hard on its heels was the equally unwelcome thought that it didn’t really matter what Stoick thought if he was dead.  


To say he felt better when Hiccup looked up quite a bit later, would be an overstatement. He didn’t feel better, just - the pressure in his chest was a little less. He rubbed his hands across his face, wiping the moisture onto his vest, and stood up. An idea was forming, in the back of Hiccup's mind. The night fury wasn't as wild as the other dragons who attacked Berk if he could get close to it, Study it. Maybe he'd learn something that would give him an edge when he found the Storm Cutter. How he was going to find the Storm cutter was another question entirely, but Hiccup decided not to think about that, as he started wandering again, vaguely in the direction of home this time. All that and the added benefit of not having to talk to anyone. Loki must have been in a particularly sarcastic mood today because no sooner had that thought crossed Hiccup's mind, than he looked up and realized he'd almost stumbled into a clearing. A clearing with Astrid Hofferson in the middle of it. She was breathing hard; axe held up over her shoulder. She was training. Hiccup realized. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, then Hiccup coughed, turned and walked away. He did not need to die today. Hiccup was stopped by the heavy thwock of an axe burying itself in a tree. He ducked, as the axe quivered in the tree by his head. 

"Gobber's looking for you," Astrid said as she walked up beside him pulling her axe out of the tree.  
"So you throw an axe at me?" The words slipped out before Hiccup thought about it, and he immediately regretted it.  
But he also didn't because Astrid stopped and turned.  
"Well it got you to stop didn't it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was gonna be more to this chapter but I'm not 100% on it yet so this is what you get.


	7. A Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I said this would be an argument..... I lied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm updating as fast as I can, but I have to proofread so I don't write myself into a corner...  
> Additionally, I am currently following the student's creed. Everything is due, Nothing is submitted - So I can't promise anything as far as timing goes for the next 2 weeks at least.

Stoick knew dragons. Better than almost anyone else on Berk. His father had made sure that Stoick had excelled in Dragon training, he’d learned early and he’d learned fast, how Dragons hunted, how they fought, how long to wait before tying them down, how to take down a Monstrous Nightmare with nothing but bare fists. Dragons were vicious, feral creatures who’d killed hundreds of vikings.

Right? There was no doubt that these dragons had seen battle. As Stoick exited the narrow passages he passed a narrow little dragon with milky white eyes. The dragon shivered, lifting it’s head and facing it’s sightless eyes towards Stoick. It made a low sound, and a larger dragon shifted, growling as it unfurled itself. Stoick backed up slowly raising his arms and assessing his opponents.  
The blind dragon was a chameleon, it’s scales shifted colour as it rose too, making a sound that was almost quizzical.  
The larger dragon, Stoick recognized as a raincutter.  
As the raincutter hissed and began to stalk forward, Stoick realized the membrane of it's left wing had been sliced. Wounded Dragons were dangerous. Despite Gobber’s frequent assertion that a downed dragon was as good as dead, Stoick had had too many close calls with wounded Monstrous Nightmares to agree. Especially with nothing but his fists.  
The Raincutter snapped at Stoick and he sidestepped, still evaluating. He hadn’t fought a raincutter unarmed and he didn’t want to get too close to the creature’s razor sharp fins.  
The Blind dragon suddenly raised it’s head and glanced away. A moment later, the Raincutter turned its head as well. Stoick braced a foot behind him, ready to tackle the larger dragon, but then he heard it too. 

 

The soft whistling sound of a staff being whirled through the air. The raincutter lowered it’s head turning with a low hum. The smaller dragon had already disappeared.  
Slowly Stoick lowered his arms, sidestepping, to give the raincutter a wide berth he made his way around and saw Valka running her hands over the dragon’s face. The dragon hummed quietly.  
“Stoick.” Valka said huskily, holding out a hand without looking up from the Dragon. 

“Valka- What are you doing?”

“Come here.” Stoick’s jaw tightened. But it was Valka, so what was he supposed to do? Reluctantly, the chief allowed his wife to take his hand. She held it for a moment, eying the raincutter which was still humming quietly.  
Then, slowly, she raised Stoick’s hand and replaced it on the Raincutter’s snout. The dragon huffed quietly as Valka slipped her hands away. The dragon leaned into Stoick’s hand.  
“Val-” He said lowly, 

“Shhh!” She said, “Give him a rub, just there.” She indicated a spot over the raincutter’s eye. Still suspicious, Stoick did as he was told. The dragon’s humming intensified and it leaned into his hand. Without thinking Stoick rolled his knuckles onto the dragon’s head like he would to a friendly yak on Berk. The dragon it growled lowly- not threatening, but enjoying the attention as it leaned hard.  
“Now she likes you.” Stoick could hear the teasing laughter in Valka’s voice but he couldn’t take his eyes off the dragon. 

Stoick knew dragons, but apparently not as well as he thought. 

After a few more minutes, the Raincutter pulled away and blinked at him. Stoick stayed where he was, and after a moment, the dragon shoock itself and stretched. Stoick turned to see Valka crouched on the rock with the blind dragon’s head in her lap, the Stormcutter curled around her.  
She looked like she belonged. And more comfortable than she’d ever really been on Berk. The Raincutter suddenly head butted Stoick from behind.  
“HEY Now.” Stoick half turned to swat at the Dragon. Valka’s laughter rang around the cliff, Stoick shot a glare at her and she stifled her laughter to a chuckle she could at least pretend to be ashamed about. The Raincutter huffed and arched it’s back, turning and facing away coolly. 

“Oh, look at that, you’ve offended her.” Valka said, still chuckling. 

“What did you do to them?” Stoick demanded. “Dragon’s don’t do that.” 

“Of course they do.” Valka admonished. “They’re not demons Stoick. Just creatures.” She made a quick brush against the blind dragon’s face and it pulled back slowly, with a shake of it’s head and Valka rose. 

“You’ve been here - 15 years Val?” Stoick took her hand slowly. “How did you survive here? Why didn’t you come back to me, to Hiccup?” Valka looked away, for a moment, Stoick was afraid she wouldn’t answer, but then she glanced up at him, and took a breath. 

“Cloudjumper never meant to hurt anyone that night, least of all me.” She said quietly. “But-” she looked away. “Both you and Hiccup almost died that night. All because when I came into our house - Cloud jumper wasn’t going to hurt Hiccup, I just startled him, I couldn’t kill him, not when I knew - then you came in and-” Valka pulled away, avoiding Stoick’s eye, he imagined they were both re-living that night, the fire. “The two people I loved most almost died because I couldn’t kill a dragon.” Valka wrapped her arms around herself. “I couldn’t have forgiven myself if you- If I— I thought if I just stayed away you’d be safer-” 

Slowly Stoick stepped up beside her again, pulling her against him, Valka leaned into the embrace slowly and mumbled the end of her thought into his shoulder.  
“I thought you’d both be better off without me-” Stoick ran his hand over her hair. 

“I’m always better with you Val” He said softly.

 

After a while, they stepped apart. “Why did you bring me here?” Stoick asked as Valka ran a hand over her face. She nodded slowly. 

“You saw that Raincutter’s wing, and the blinded Hobblegrunt.” Stoick nodded. Valka turned to the cavern and led the way to the edge. 

“For the past 15 years I’ve been rescuing dragons from a group of people who call themselves dragon trappers. They only take live dragons who are uninjured. The raincutter and the Hobblegrunt, and many of the others weren’t useful to them so they were left to die.” Stoick frowned, not liking where this was leading. 

“I knew that the trappers were all working for the same master, but I wasn’t sure who. At least, not until I found a fort.” Valka was watching the dragons as she talked, and Stoick watched the multi-coloured shadows flit across her face. “There were forges in the lower levels, all powered by dragon-fire. I rallied the alpha -” 

“The Alpha?” Stoick asked. Valka smiled, and gestured down to the water. 

“Behold the king of all dragons. The Bewilder-beast.” It took a moment for Stoick to realize the large chunk of ice in the water was not ice at all, but an enormous Dragon. “He’s the one who made us this cavern.” Valka continued, gesturing at the ice vaulted overhead. 

“An Ice breather-” Stoick said, rubbing his beard. He’d heard stories, but nothing this size. 

“With the alpha and the able dragons, the Trappers never stood a chance.” Valka said, a certain smug pride in her voice. “I caught and interrogated one of the trappers. He wouldn’t say much, except that Drago was coming for my dragons, That even with my Alpha, I couldn’t hope to stand against Drago bludvist and his dragon army.” 

Despite the warmth of the Cavern, Stoick felt ice creeping down his spine. “Drago Bludvist.” He repeated. “You’re sure.” 

Valka nodded slowly. “I wish I wasn’t, but I’ve questioned 20 different trappers and they all say the same thing - Drago Bludvist is coming. And if he takes this mountain-” Valka broke off, still staring at the dragons that flitted across the cavern constantly. Stoick gritted his teeth against the flashback. “If Drago takes this mountain, he’ll come for Berk.” he finished. 

Valka turned back to meet Stoick's eyes and nodded. "I couldn't tell myself I was staying away to protect you anymore." She said quietly.  
"Odin help us." Stoick muttered. 


End file.
